


Till the Bitter End

by Pendragon2601



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: #PickUpShadowhunters, #SaveShadowhunters, Alec is worried about Magnus, Catarina is unwell, Engaged Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Friendship, Illnesses, M/M, Magnus is unwell, Possible Character Death, Post-Book 1: Lady Midnight, Pre-Book 2: Lord of Shadows, References to The Dark Artifices, References to The Eldest Curses, References to the Shadow Market, Supernatural Illnesses, Swearing, Tessa is unwell, The Crimson Hand, book canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 21:28:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15276543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pendragon2601/pseuds/Pendragon2601
Summary: Life is good for the Lightwood-Banes.Magnus and Alec are finally engaged and are settled into their roles as parents. Their sons are happy and safe in their family, and they have all the time in the world to plan their wedding. Or do they? Because Magnus hasn't been well and neither has most of the Warlock community. An epidemic is spreading which is causing warlocks to slowly lose their magic. Magnus has been trying to find out what is going on, whilst at the same time, trying to keep Alec from worrying about him.When Magnus gets a call one night from Catarina about a potential theory behind the blight, Magnus begins to wonder whether his unwanted cult of followers has something to do with it. Whatever it is, Magnus had better work quickly...





	Till the Bitter End

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I've been sitting on this theory for the last couple of years and with reading Lord of Shadows and the new snippets of The Eldest Curses, my theory is becoming more and more substantial than I thought. I've always thought that the trajectory of the level of peril in Clare's books can only go up and so, with Magnus and the warlocks slowly losing their magic in the canon, it could mean that the end times are coming...  
> (The Wicked Powers = Shadowhunter Apocalypse!!!)  
> But, also, what with this new plotline of Magnus's accidental cult, what if Magnus or his followers have something to do with the illness?  
> So, here is what I came up with. I really hope its true, because that would be epic!!!  
> I don't own any of the characters.  
> Enjoy!

“...And that's why you should never listen to your Uncle Jace when he says that dragon demons are extinct. Regardless of what he claims about himself, he doesn't _actually_ know everything.”

Magnus lifted his gaze from his book at his desk and smiled fondly at the scene. His beloved Alexander was sitting on the couch with their sons happily nestled on either side of him, with sleepy smiles on their faces. It had been a quiet day at the Lightwood-Bane household, a rarity of days off that Alec had been given from the Institute, and so he had decided to spend it at home with his family. Magnus had watched Alec playing with their sons and telling them stories all day, recounting times when he and his Parabatai had gotten into sticky situations (Magnus was certain that he now knew more about Jace and his antics than he had ever wanted to. The young man was definitely a Herondale, that's for sure, Magnus thought dryly to himself as he tried to forget the disturbing image of a naked Jace streaking through New York with antlers on his head).

Max let out a long yawn as he tiredly nuzzled his face into the softness of the old threadbare sweater that Alec was wearing. One of the little white horns on Max's head accidentally caught onto one of the holes in Alec's sweater and made it slightly bigger as he moved. Alec smiled and gently stroked the toddler's dark blue head.

“I think it's bedtime, Alec. Do you want some help?” Magnus whispered, shifting slowly in his seat. Alec nodded his head as Magnus stood up and carefully picked up Rafael, shifting his hold on the young boy as he held him close to his chest. Rafael clung on to Magnus in his sleep like a baby monkey with its mother as Alec stood up with Max in his arms, leaning over to kiss Rafael's dark hair before leading the way to the boys’ shared bedroom.

As they tucked their sons into their beds, lightly stroking their hair with gentle fingers, Alec reached out and took Magnus's hand as they quietly tiptoed out of the room and closed the door behind them. Magnus turned to Alec with a sigh of relief. “Well, that was better than last night. Hopefully they'll sleep right the way through this time.”

“Fingers crossed.” Alec nodded in agreement as they walked back into the living room. Magnus caught Alec's curious gaze turn towards Magnus's book on his desk. “What have you been working on all day? Is it for a client?”

“Sort of. It's certainly some very interesting literature.” Magnus shrugged his shoulders and waved his hand, watching as a wisp of light blue magic flickered through the air and picked up the book, shutting it abruptly and shelving it out of sight.

The living room seemed to suddenly spin around Magnus and he felt his legs wobble beneath him. The next minute Magnus found himself leaning heavily against Alec’s chest, completely enveloped in his fiancé’s arms. Alec stared at Magnus with concern. “Magnus, are you okay? You're looking a little pale. Perhaps you should sit down.”

“I'll be fine in a minute, Alexander. I'm just feeling a little dizzy.” Magnus grimaced as he let Alec lead him to the sofa. “I must have been overdoing it with my magic today.”

“Are you sure? You've barely used your magic all day.” Alec frowned as he helped Magnus sit down and lean back against the cushions. “Would you like some water?” Magnus nodded raising his hand to summon a glass, only for Alec to gently take his hand and hold it still in his own. Alec shook his head at Magnus, squeezing his hands in comfort. “No more magic, okay? I'll get it. You just rest.”

Magnus sighed and let his head fall back to rest against the back of the sofa, closing his eyes in a bid to stop the world spinning so quickly around him. “I think I must be coming down with something. Maybe the flu? That will be a first for me.” he said idly as Alec swiftly nipped into the kitchen. “I've never had the flu before. From what Catarina says, the mundanes catch it all the time so it can't be that bad. Then again, they said the same about the Black Death and look how that turned out.”

Alec soon reappeared from the kitchen with a tall glass of clear cold water in his hand, which he passed to Magnus as he joined him on the couch. “I hope it's not contagious. No offence Magnus, but I'd prefer that the boys don't catch it.” Alec leaned over and pressed a kiss to Magnus's temple.

Magnus smirked. “Oh yeah, and what about you?”

Alec shrugged as he settled his arm around Magnus's shoulders and pulled him close to his side. “I'll be okay. I'm wearing a lot of iratzes to combat against it.”

“Oh, of course, you and your runes.” Magnus said, amused. “You Nephilim seem to think of everything, don't you?”

“Not everything, but quite a lot.” Alec tipped his head to lightly rest against Magnus's hair. Usually this would bother Magnus to the point that he would playfully push him off to save his carefully styled spikes from being crushed, but just right now he didn't mind too much. It was the end of the day and he was alone with Alec, the only person he felt comfortable enough to be himself with. Alec lightly trailed his fingers up and down Magnus's arm comfortingly. “Perhaps you should cancel your appointments tomorrow. I can take the boys to my mother's and you can just catch up on some rest. Hopefully then you'll feel better.”

“That sounds like a plan.” Magnus nodded and warmly kissed Alec's lips. Alec kissed him back with a smile, taking hold of one of Magnus's hands and weaving their fingers together.

 

* * *

 

Despite going to bed hours ago, Magnus still found himself wide awake long after Alec had fallen asleep. He dabbed a hand-towel against his wet face and stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Without his usual make up on, he looked so unattractively pale. There was dark circles resting underneath his eyes and his skin had taken on a clammy grey tinge to it, making him look like an extra in a low budget zombie movie. He felt cold shivers all over his skin despite the feverish temperature he had and the shiny look of sweat drenching his forehead.

He couldn’t go back to bed like this. Alec would surely notice that he wasn’t well. Magnus had managed to cover up the extent of how seriously ill he was for some time now, but he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep this up. He needed to know what was happening to him, and quickly. He had been researching a new theory based on the new worrying set of symptoms he had developed this morning: sore throat, constant exhaustion, blurry vision and even an inability to cast a spell for longer than a few short minutes. His memory of simple spells was slowly fading as well. He had found himself needing to consult his spell books more and more these days, which always seemed a tad unprofessional to him considering his reputation of being the best in New York.

He looked up at his reflection once more, taking in his haggard appearance before shaking his head in defeat. Alec would know something was wrong with him immediately. Magnus had already begun to suspect that Alec had his suspicions about it but was just waiting until the right moment to mention it like he always does. All the while he was probably gathering information in his head and trying to form a plan of his own. Magnus was sure this was what Alec was doing if the concerned looks he had been receiving were anything to go by. There was no fooling him these days, he knew his beloved Alexander too well.

There was a sudden flash of light above his head as a singed scrap of paper fluttered into the sink in front of him. He hastily snatched it out of the basin and drained the sink before the water could damage the fire message. He frowned. It was a message from Catarina.

 

**_Call me. Urgent. C._ **

 

Scrunching up the note he quietly made his way out of his bathroom and into his study, knowing that he was far enough away from the bedrooms for anyone to hear him. He picked up his phone and dialled Catarina. She answered after the first ring.

“Magnus? Oh thank Lilith, you got my message.” He heard her speak quietly with a sigh of relief.

“What is it, Catarina? Are you okay?” Magnus frowned.

He waited for an answer, listening to her breathing shallowly into the receiver of her phone. “Magnus…have you been getting dizzy spells recently? Be honest with me, please.”

Magnus froze, his hand holding his phone tightly with a slight shake in his fingers. “Have you been talking to Alec?”

“I’ll take that as a yes then, but no I haven’t spoken to Alec-” She suddenly broke off in a fit of harsh ragged coughs, the sound rattling in echoes through Magnus’s phone. Magnus felt a wave of alarm go through him as he listened to his friend struggle to regain control of her breathing. In all the centuries that he had known her, she has never been sick. Not once.

“Catarina, you don’t sound very well at all.”

“I’m not. Tessa’s the same. Something’s going on. Its like there’s some sort of supernatural pandemic happening that’s only targeting warlocks at the moment. Are you and Max okay?”

Magnus paused in thought as he thought about how Max had been during the day. “Max has been a little more clingy than usual today, but otherwise he’s been the same as he always is.”

“What about you?”

Magnus swallowed, leaning heavily against his desk as he felt his legs begin to wobble beneath him. “Not much better off than you, if I’m being honest. I don’t want to worry Alexander though. He’s under enough pressure from the Clave as it is, what with this Cohort business going on.”

He heard her suddenly scoff in disgust. “Nasty pieces of work they are. You know the last time I went to the Shadowhunter Academy they had hundreds of protestors outside the gates, just because I was doing my job. They had to put me on suspension for my own safety.” 

“Don’t get me started on them, or we’ll be here all night.” Magnus huffed as he moved to the sofa in the living room. He had just managed to grab onto the arm before his legs started to shake under his weight. He let out an exhausted breath, closing his eyes briefly before he continued. “I’ve been researching all day to try and figure out what’s going on. I’ve looked up spells, curses, voodoo,  hoodoo, hexes and potions but nothing seems to correlate with my symptoms at the moment. I’ve exhausted nearly every book I own and even a few of Ragnor’s old books and found nothing. I don’t know what else to do.”

“Tessa’s been researching in the Spiral Labyrinth since she got back from finding that Herondale boy in Los Angeles. Jem thinks it might be something demon-related so he’s been looking into Shadowhunter archives, which by the way you didn’t hear from me if anyone asks.” Catarina added. Magnus could hear a faint tone of amusement in her voice.

Magnus opened his eyes in interest. “Why does Jem think it’s demon related?”

“I don’t know. He’s a Shadowhunter, isn’t he? They all think it’s to do with demons somehow.” Catarina suddenly coughed loudly into the phone, making Magnus wince at the sound.

Magnus thought silently about what Catarina said. Perhaps Jem was on to something. It was certainly an idea that Magnus hadn’t thought about before, mostly because it had seemed preposterous under normal circumstances. How could a disease effecting warlocks be in any way caused by demons? Magnus shrugged his shoulders even though he knew no one could see him. “Well, I suppose it’s something. What else have we got to lose?”

“Actually, come to think of it, how _is_ Jem looking into Shadowhunter archives? Isn’t he an ex-Shadowhunter now? A mundane.” Catarina wondered on the phone.

“Perhaps he has some secret contacts in the Shadow Market. I don’t know.” Magnus sighed. “Although, if he does, I wouldn’t mind knowing who they are for my own purposes. It can’t hurt to keep up to date with things nowadays.”

“Sure, if you say so.” Catarina replied in a disbelieving tone. “Anyway, I’m going to try and get some sleep. I’ll speak to you tomorrow.”

“Okay, you look after yourself.”

“And you, Magnus. Goodnight.”

Magnus heard Catarina hang up on the phone and he let out a slow breath. He turned to look at the clock on his desk to see that it was nearly three o’clock in the morning. Usually on a normal night, he would be fast asleep in his bed just waiting for his beloved Alexander to come home from patrols. There wasn’t anything that he could do tonight anyway and heavens knew that his sons would wake them up early for breakfast. He supposed he should go back to bed and get as much sleep as he could.

With what little strength he had left, Magnus shuffled towards his bedroom and got back into bed as quietly as he could. Just as he was about to fall asleep, Magnus felt himself being gently pulled at until he found himself in Alec’s comforting arms with his head lying in the crook of his shoulder. Magnus smiled fondly and closed his eyes, drifting off into peaceful slumber.

 

* * *

 

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay on your own, Mags?” Alec asked worriedly as he sat down on the edge of their bed and pressed the back of his hand against Magnus’s forehead. “I could take the day off at the Institute to look after you. Mother could babysit the boys for the night. You really don’t look well."

Magnus gave him a small, tired smile. “As much as I like the idea of you looking after me, I’ll be completely fine here. Go to work. Go kill some demons. I’ll see you later.”

Alec leaned down and kissed Magnus’s forehead, lightly stroking his thumb along his cheekbone. “I’ll call you when I get a break.” Alec said with one last kiss to his mouth. “I love you.”

“Love you too, darling.” Magnus grinned.

“Daddy!” A small voice called out as their bedroom door opened to reveal Max wandering into the room with a look of concentration as he fiddled with his coat. “Daddy, I need help. My zip’s broken.” Alec shared an amused look with Magnus before he turned to Max with a grin.

“I’m pretty sure it’s not broken, Blueberry. Come here and I’ll show you how to zip it up again.” He lifted Max onto the side of the bed next to Magnus and zipped up his coat. Alec glanced towards the door before he ruffled Max’s hair. “I’d better go check on Rafe and see how he’s doing with his coat. You stay here with Papa, Blueberry.”

“Okay, Daddy.” Max said cheerfully as Alec stood up and walked out of the room.

Magnus shakily shifted up the bed to lean back against his pillows and pulled his son into a warm embrace. “Will you be good at Grandma Maryse’s today? No magic spells without me, Blueberry. Promise?” Magnus said as he peered down at Max’s little blue face.

“I promise, Papa.” Max nodded as he hugged Magnus’s waist. Magnus smiled.

“There’s a good boy. And do you promise to share your toys with your bro—”  Magnus suddenly felt like his lungs were being wrenched out of his chest through his throat as he let out a loud series of painful coughs. His chest felt increasingly constrictive as he slowly settled down, his breathing taking on a quiet wheezing sound. Magnus looked down at his son to find him watching him with a curious stare.

“Papa, should I read you a story?” Max asked.

Magnus raised an bemused eyebrow at Max. “A story?”

Max nodded. “Like the ones Daddy tells Rafe when he’s sick. I could tell you a story to make you feel better.”

Magnus felt his chest fill with warmth, leaning over to kiss Max’s dark blue hair with a smile. “That’s a lovely idea, Max. But you’ve got to get off to Grandma’s soon. Maybe another time.”

Max nodded with a small pout before he shuffled off the bed onto his feet and hurried towards the door. Magnus was about to ask where he was going when a moment later, Max waddled back in awkwardly holding a very grumpy looking Chairman Meow in his outstretched arms. Magnus chuckled quietly as Max nudged the feline onto the bed next to Magnus. “Chairman Meow can give you cuddles today.” Max announced, proudly puffing out his chest with a grin.

“Thank you, Blueberry. That’s just what I need.” Magnus replied, lightly stroking Chairman Meow’s furry head. Chairman Meow batted the end of his tail against the bed covers in annoyance as he watched Max with narrowed pupils. He didn’t seem to appreciate being manhandled by a toddler with sticky fingers this early in the morning.

“Time to go, Max!” came the distant call from Alec by the front door, closely followed by the jangle of locks behind opened.

“Coming, Daddy! Get well soon, Papa.” Max said as he leaned up to kiss Magnus on the cheek before he dashed out of the bedroom. A moment later, Magnus heard the front door close shut, leaving him completely alone for the day. 

Magnus turned to Chairman Meow with a smile. “Well, looks like it’s just you and me today then. Just like the good old days.” 

Chairman Meow gave one slow blink at Magnus before he promptly hopped off the bed and disappeared from the room. Magnus watched the cat go and let out a tired sigh. _So much for the old days,_ he thought as he slumped against his pillows. He was too tired to follow after the Chairman. He was too tired for many things these days. Magnus couldn’t remember the last time that he and Alec had done anything more than kiss and cuddle. Though Magnus still enjoyed those quiet moments between them, he missed being well enough to have sex with Alexander. He may be a centuries old warlock who was unwell at the moment but he still had needs. Alec was more than understanding about it all and it frustrated Magnus to hell. But that was his Alexander; he was caring, loving and loyal to a fault.

Three hours later, Magnus found himself glaring up at his ceiling. He didn’t want to be stuck here in bed. He couldn’t stand the thought of being idle. He needed to be doing something or else he’ll go insane. During the night when he was sleeping, his dreams seemed to take him back to an old memory he had forgotten from his youth. He had barely turned eighty years old but with his body still as strong and youthful as it had been when he stopped aging at nineteen, Magnus had felt invincible. He felt so invincible in fact, that he had become a little cocky and did some things that he was not proud of now that he was older and wiser. But there was one thing that he did that he knew he could never take back and it started nagging at his brain all through the night, as if his mind was telling him _this is the reason that you’re sick_. Magnus had a hunch that Jem’s theory may actually prove to be more important than he originally gave it credit for. But he needed to research in his books to be sure. If he could just make it to his study, there may be hope for him yet.

With his mind made up, Magnus slid his legs from beneath his sheets and pushed himself to his feet. He felt his body sway around for one dizzy moment but thankfully he remained upright. He smiled and took a step forward, then another and another until he found himself leaning against his bedroom doorframe. So far, so good. He had managed to get to his study with barely a sweat. But Magnus wasn’t foolish enough to believe that his luck was beginning to change. There was a faint metallic taste in his mouth that told him that he should probably get back to bed as soon as possible before he collapsed. Magnus spotted a handful of old string bound journals sitting haphazardly on one of his bookshelves and thanked his younger precocious self for getting into the habit of writing down events in his life. He knew in one of those books, there had to be an answer to his current predicament. But they were on such a high shelf and he had no footstool, for why would he need to climb one when he could summon any book at will with just a click of his fingers, and with every step he took his head began to swim dangerously. He just needed to last a bit longer. He was almost there…

He reached up onto his tiptoes and felt his hand grasp hold of the one of the spines, when he suddenly felt as if he could fly. His body felt weightless and he almost smiled at the feeling, but then he stared up at the bookshelf and found it falling away from him, his journal slipping out of his fingers and crashing to the floor in a scatter of faded pages.

“Oh shit…” Magnus whispered before his eyes rolled back into his head and he crumpled to the floor. The last thing he remembered before he slipped into the empty blackness of his mind, was the sound of Chairman Meow whining for him to wake up and the faint buzzing of his cell lying on his wooden desk.

 

* * *

 

 

Alec was worried about Magnus.

His worries about him had first appeared a few days ago when he caught Magnus sleeping on the couch just a couple of hours into looking after Max and Rafael for the morning while he was in a meeting at the Institute. Usually this wouldn’t be a surprise, since he’d always known that Magnus wasn’t a morning person, but ever since they had adopted both of their sons Magnus had been putting extra effort into waking up early in the morning to look after them whilst Alec recovered from late night patrols. When Alec asked Magnus why he was asleep, Magnus couldn’t remember even shutting his eyes. Since then it seemed that Magnus was growing more tired with every moment that passed. But this morning had firmly alerted his worries into full-blown anxiety when he noticed that Magnus’s face had taken on a pale greyness that wasn’t there yesterday. Magnus had barely been able to keep his eyes open when Alec kissed him good morning, before he got out of bed to see to the children.

Perhaps it was just the flu, like Magnus mused last night, but something was telling Alec to take this seriously and pay close attention to how he was feeling. So, whilst he was on a break at the Institute, Alec called Magnus’s cell to check up on him but didn’t get an answer. Against his better judgement, Alec asked Isabelle to cover for him until he came back and ran to find the nearest train he could find to Brooklyn. His heart was pounding hard in his chest all the way but he pushed through it and soon found himself unlocking their apartment door in next to no time. 

“Magnus, I’m home! Listen, I know you said you’d be okay on your own but I just wanted to double check for my own peace of mind. Plus, I tried calling earlier and you didn’t answer.” Alec said as he closed the front door behind him. He shook off his coat, hanging it up on his personal peg in the hallway next to Magnus’s and noticed that the apartment was silent apart from the sound of Chairman Meow’s loud meowing. Alec felt a pang of worry press against his ribcage before he followed after the small cat’s insistent meows. “Magnus, have you fed Chairman Meow today? He sounds really hungry…”

Alec felt his stomach plunge into his feet as his gaze fell on Magnus’s still body lying face down on the floor. Chairman Meow was stood by his head carefully pawing at Magnus’s shoulders. Alec dropped to his knees beside Magnus and pulled him into his lap, tapping the side of his sweaty, pale face in a bid to revive him. Alec hunched over to listen to his chest and tried not to panic when he couldn’t hear him breathing.

“Shit, Magnus wake up. Darling, please wake up. Can you hear me?” Easing Magnus to the floor, Alec pressed his mouth against his and prayed that he could get enough air into Magnus’s lungs to save him before he moved to compress his chest. Magnus remained still. “Honey, come on. Breathe, Magnus, breathe. Mags, please. Come on, you’re scaring me…”

When Alec still couldn’t hear any air coming from Magnus’s mouth he hurriedly pulled his cell out of his pocket and dialled the first number he could think of, praying to Raziel that he would pick up soon. “Alec? You never call me on your break—”

“Jace, by the Angel, it’s Magnus.” Alec gasped. He could feel his eyes begin to well up with tears as his voice shook with fear. “H-he’s not breathing. Help me, please. Please!”

Alec heard the sound of Jace’s office chair scraping against the floor before he replied. “I’ll be right there. Just keep talking to him, you hear me?”

“I can’t lose him, Jace, not now. Oh god, brother, please hurry.”

“You’re not going to lose him. I promise. I’m on my way.”

Alec turned back to Magnus after Jace hung up on him. Magnus didn’t move at all as Alec resumed exhaling into his lungs and pressing against his chest until he was nearing exhaustion. Alec tried not to let the sight of Magnus’s pale face, such a contrast to his normally tanned skin, scare him enough to make him stop and give up. He couldn’t give up. He wouldn’t. They had already gone through so much, faced to many conflicts in their relationship for it to end now. It couldn’t end now. Not when they had so much ahead of them. Alec refused to believe that this was how it was going to end between them.

Check for air, exhale, compress chest, repeat. It felt like he was doing this for hours, pushing back the fatigue in his muscles and the terrifying fear that he was too late. “Magnus, come on. You can’t leave me now. We’ve still got to get married, Mags! Don’t think I’m going to let you get out of that. What about the boys, huh? You can’t leave them. Magnus, _come on_..! Just fucking breathe, you selfish bastard!”

Magnus suddenly opened his eyes with a spluttering gasp. Alec felt a wave of relief crash over him, leaving him wondering whether to kiss Magnus or punch him in his beautiful face. Alec decided on the former and pulled him into a relieved kiss. When he finally pulled away, Magnus offered him an exhausted smile as he gingerly patted Alec’s arm. “Alexander…did you call me a selfish bastard?”

Alec wiped the back of his hand against the wetness on his face and sighed in relief. “By the Angel, Magnus. What the hell happened? Tell me the truth or I’ll never have sex with you again. I swear on the Angel, Magnus, I—”  

“Alec! Magnus! Oh, thank the angel, you’re alright.” Jace sighed as he suddenly scrambled into the apartment and kneeled down next to Alec. His face was a little pink and he was panting heavily as he rolled his eyes at Magnus. “For god’s sake, Magnus! I ran all the way here only to find out that you’re fine?”

Magnus raised an eyebrow at him before he turned to Alec. “You called your brother? Really?”

“You weren’t breathing. What else was I supposed to do?” Alec said helplessly as he gazed down at Magnus and gently carded his fingers through his spiked hair.

“You’re right, I’m sorry Alexander. I’m sorry.” Magnus cooed soothingly, lightly stroking Alec’s cheek with a shaky hand.

“I thought you were dying, Magnus. I just found you on the floor and you weren’t breathing and my whole life just started imploding.”

“I’m so sorry. Really darling, I’m so sorry.” Magnus said tiredly, feeling as if a building had crumbled on top of him, crushing the air out of his lungs and replace it with ash. His bones deeply ached with exhaustion. “Alec, my love, shall we move to the living room? This floor isn’t going to do your back any favours.”

Alec and Jace moved to help Magnus to his feet. Magnus leaned heavily against his chest, barely having any energy to grip hold of Alec’s shirt as he was led to sit down on the couch in the living room. Alec sat beside Magnus and fussed over him as he helped him get comfortable, plumping cushions and checking his temperature, whilst Jace wandered into the study. Magnus batted Alec’s hands away from him as his beloved fiancé checked his temperature for the third time. “Alec, will you please sit still for a moment? Just give me a minute and I’ll be back to normal soon enough.”

Alec huffed as he let his hands drop into his lap. “I knew I should have stayed home this morning. My gut told me that you were sick, that you _are_ sick, but you still made me go to the Institute this morning. Why didn’t you tell me, Magnus? You promised no more secrets.”

“I didn’t want to worry you until I found out what was actually going on, Alexander.”

Alec scoffed. “Oh yeah, that worked out well. Do I look at all worried now?”

Magnus sighed. “It’s not just me who’s sick, Alexander. Catarina and Tessa have not been well either. Cat thinks that there might be an epidemic that’s affecting Warlocks but it could be anything really.”

“It’s that serious? By the Angel, Magnus. You should have told me. I could have helped you.”

Magnus shook his head. “I didn’t want to risk dividing your attention when we’ve got so much left to do with the Alliance. And what with the Cohort now…”

“Magnus, none of that will matter if you die before we both get to see it happen.” Alec reached out to hold Magnus’s hands in his own. They felt so unlike how they usually felt against his skin. Alec loved Magnus’s hands. They were often gentle, covered in soft, luxuriously warm skin that sent shiver up Alec’s spine every time that they came into contact with his body. Alec thought that Magnus’s hands looked so beautiful and so…so _masculine_ , that with every snap or flick of his fingers, Alec was left entranced by the seductive blue flames of Magnus’s magic. But right now, his hands had a damp, clammy feel to them. Much like the rest of him, it seemed. Alec shook his head. “What were you even doing out of bed anyway? What was so important in your study that you needed to risk your health?”

“I think it might have something to do with this, Alec.” Jace answered suddenly as he walked back into the living room, holding up a spineless book of parchment. He gave it to Alec who frowned at it in confusion, flicking through the pages carefully and staring at the looping script of Magnus’s handwriting.

“Magnus, what is this? It’s so old.”

Magnus took the book from Alec and rifled through it until the second to last page, at which he frowned and let out a huff. “It’s one of my old journals, Alexander. I was talking to Catarina last night on the phone and she mentioned that Jem was looking into possible theories at the Shadow Market, theories that this illness of mine might be demon related. So, it got me thinking, what if he’s _right_?”

Magnus gave Alec a look, one that Alec had seen only once before when they were travelling around Europe on holiday years ago, and he suddenly understood what Magnus was referring to. Alec shook his head and tried to ignore the heavy feeling of dread in his chest. “The Crimson Hand? No. No way. Magnus, you can’t possibly think that this is your fault.”

“It might be, my love. I did some very stupid things when I was your age, very stupid stuff that is going to probably haunt me for the rest of my life. What if my _followers--_ ” Magnus scoffed at the word in disgust. “—found a way to raise a demon to set a plague on me and it backfired?”

“Wouldn’t a summoning like that have been noticed by the Clave by now?” Alec said.

“Not if they’re distracted. The Cohort have been taking up every spare second of their attention that they can get.” Jace sighed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He turned to Magnus with an apologetic look on his face. “I’m going to have to tell Clary about this. I promise it won’t go to the Clave for now, but we may be able to help. Simon and Izzy too.”

“Thank you.” Magnus said with a nod and watched as a ghost of a smirk appeared on Jace’s lips.

“No need to thank me, Magnus. You’re practically my brother in law, or you will be whenever you get around to your nuptials, so I guess that makes you family.” Jace shrugged as he fished his cell out of his pocket and proceeded to dial Clary’s number. “Besides, I’d rather not have to deal with Alec being depressed and mopey again. Once was enough.” Alec kicked Jace’s shin, earning a pained wince and a glare from his Parabatai. Jace stepped out of Alec’s reach and turned away as he heard Clary answer her phone, a soft smile appearing on his face at the sound of her voice.

Alec turned his attention to Magnus when he heard his fiancé sigh. “I guess I have no choice now but to involve you in my troubles. I just wanted to try and keep you safe Alexander. I don’t know what I’d do if something were to happen to you or our boys.”

“That’s exactly the point I’m trying to make though, Magnus. If I die, you’re the one who has to go on for our sons. They’ll need you. Max will need you.” Alec said, squeezing Magnus’s hand in his own in an attempt to mask the tremble he felt in his voice. He didn’t want to think about his inevitable death and how that would leave his family devastated in the future. It was something that already kept him awake most nights.

“But they’ll need you too. Rafael will need you more than ever. He’s already lost one set of parents—”

“They’ll need us _both_ , Magnus. That’s why you have to let me help you with this. Let all of us help you.” Alec replied imploringly. “Like Jace said, you’re part of my family Magnus whether you like it or not. You accepted that condition the moment you accepted my family ring, Mags.” He held up Magnus’s left hand, empty of jewellery except from a single metal band on his third finger which was Alec’s family ring. 

“I know. I guess I’m still getting used to the idea.” Magnus said with a wry smile, patting their joined hands gently. “I’ve spent the majority of my life alone with barely any help from anyone else. I’m not used to having so many people having my back.”

Alec leaned forward and pressed a comforting kiss to his forehead. “Well, you have me now. That’s never going to change. You’re stuck with me until I die or you don’t love me anymore.”

“I can never stop loving you, Alexander. You’ve given me so much in such a short space of time, so many things I never even imagined I could have. You’re stuck with me too, Alexander.” Magnus whispered to Alec, pulling him close to rest his head against his shoulder. Alec settled against him comfortably, wrapping his arms around Magnus’s shoulders in a warm hug with a smile.

“Until the bitter end, then.” Alec said wryly into Magnus’s hair.

Magnus tightened his grip and lifted his chin to press a kiss to Alec’s lips. His fiancé kissed him back warmly, a soft humming noise escaping from his chest. “Not even then, Alexander. Not even then.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think. Or if you need any one to chat to about the Shadowhunters cancellation. Especially the last one.


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